This APOD is a little weak, I must say. I enjoy an artistic, concise synthesis as much as anyone with an aesthetic as well as scientific sense, but a couple of things occurred to me as I was watching: (1) This story is a little too anthropocentric and seemingly teleological for me - the universe didn't come into being so that we could emerge at the end as the natural apotheosis; (2) the K-T extinction event isn't the most devastating or biologically significant one - the end-Permian was; again, emphasizing the K-T extinction event just plays into our (as a species) sense of self-importance.

Sorry to rain on the parade of the producers of the video, it's just how I feel about it. Nice try, though. It's a difficult "story" to attempt to tell meaningfully in 1 minute.

Skyscraper: Burj Khalifa. Mountain: Annapurna?

Lastly, to Gandalf: Science is a posteriori, not a priori, so asking what came "before the Big Bang" is the wrong question; that is a philosophical and/or theological question, not a scientific one (unless you entertain the concept of multiverses, and even then, the matter is entirely speculative). If you don't have an empirical mindset, facts will never convince you, and no theory will ever satisfy you. Faith is irrelevant. Belief is incidental. I suggest you move on if you just want to proselytize for some "Intelligent Design" worldview.

metamorphmuses wrote:This story is a little too anthropocentric and seemingly teleological for me - the universe didn't come into being so that we could emerge at the end as the natural apotheosis;

Welcome to the forums!

Right: the Universe wasn't created for us. But this is "Our Story." Someone on the Internet decided to give our species one minute of unabashedly self-important celebration of how we got to where we are. Armed with this context by the video's title, I didn't raise an eyebrow at the flagrant over-representation of humanity, nor did I wish that the creators allotted a realistic proportion of their minute to, say, hydrogen and helium atoms doing their thing, since they are the 99% (of baryonic matter). Instead, the video filled me with the fortunately short-lived inspiration to run to the farthest prehistoric archeological site on my continent, tear off my shirt with a primal scream at the break of dawn, and pose triumphantly over the remains of the species that died for us. Then I'd probably snap out of it, realize how lost and shirtless I was, and mumble "well, this is awkward" before keeling over for the timberwolves.

metamorphmuses wrote:
(2) the K-T extinction event isn't the most devastating or biologically significant one - the end-Permian was; again, emphasizing the K-T extinction event just plays into our (as a species) sense of self-importance.

Any attempt at depicting the end-Permian event would be epic indeed. Maybe they could work it into a longer version.

Pete wrote:... nor did I wish that the creators allotted a realistic proportion of their minute to, say, hydrogen and helium atoms doing their thing, since they are the 99% (of baryonic matter). Instead, the video filled me with the fortunately short-lived inspiration to run to the farthest prehistoric archeological site on my continent, tear off my shirt with a primal scream at the break of dawn, and pose triumphantly over the remains of the species that died for us.

A sound and entertaining rebuttal...

I guess the video succeeded in its desired effect if it filled you (even for a moment) with that sense of triumph.

Me, I felt a little embarrassed, like "we" as a species should show some humility in the face of the grand fabric of time and space. That's just me, today. Maybe on another day, I can partake of the unabashed exuberance of it all.

Any attempt at depicting the end-Permian event would be epic indeed. Maybe they could work it into a longer version...

Likely not to be as visually interesting, either?

K-T Extinction (Sorry, "K–Pg:" A renaming right up there with "Brontosaurus" on the pedantic scale) does seem a much better fit for this story.

I know that the clip was "Our Story," but would not have minded a bit more of the trilobites - could been done at the expense of the bacteria - and perhaps some recognition of the Holocene extinction event which we seem to be causing.

And, the Big Bang ...

As a simple soul sitting in darkness, I have never made any sense of the Big Bang: What does it Bang into? From whence came the banging material, what was there before there was a before, why is there something rather than nothing, and would not nothing then be something in and of itself, where is the Dark Matter making up most of our universe, and why don't I trip over it?

Cosmology for me has always seemed one of the most annoyingly other-worldly, speculative, and largely useless endeavors of the human mind. Many ancient societies, recognizing this, simply - and quite sensibly - invoked a Creator God ... equally sensibly they then ignored the obvious question of ante deus, quid? Perhaps I have just not ever been clever enough to actually understand cosmological discussions.

At root, do not think the Big Bang is really much different: Being simply another attempt to explain the unknowable with the unknown.

Hello,out there,
APOD is my favorit site in the net,I love it.Todays video is great-I cried while watching it because it touched me deep inside.
We can be genious and create so much,but we are often cruel and destroy this tiny dot,which is our home in the universe-this ambiguousnes makes me crazy. Once an Indian said(from german to english with my own words-I hope it makes sense):
When the last tree is cuted down,
the last river is poisened
and the last fish is catched,
you get perceive,that you are not able to eat money!

However,the skyskraper is definetly the worlds highest building in Dubai,called Burj Khalifa.
And the mountain? I'm not shure, but I think it's the highest,too. Seems to be the Mt.Everest.
By the end, best wishes for all the starchildren here and everyehere,
TOM from Germany
PS:Sorry for my english,i try to learn...

APOD is the greatest site for learning something new about our real Universe and our place in it. I love it. Although very well produced, this moderately entertaining clip is just not one the top learning experiences presented here.

RedFishBlueFish wrote:
At root, do not think the Big Bang is really much different: Being simply another attempt to explain the unknowable with the unknown.

With some bits of known which we call evidence? And with the humility to admit that some aspects are unknown as opposed to absolute and unchangeable. I think it's very different. And without evidence, there would be no BBT, unlike the creator god myths which exist only because someone imagined them.

Eh, not a bad video except the resolution suxass! Enjoyed it for brief sixty seconds. You people needn't get so worked up about titles and meaning and philosophy for X's sake. The good news for you is you'll have another picture to bitch about tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and ...

RedFishBlueFish wrote:
At root, do not think the Big Bang is really much different: Being simply another attempt to explain the unknowable with the unknown.

With some bits of known which we call evidence? And with the humility to admit that some aspects are unknown as opposed to absolute and unchangeable. I think it's very different. And without evidence, there would be no BBT, unlike the creator god myths which exist only because someone imagined them.

There once was a time I would have vehemently disagreed with RedFishBlueFish because the BBT was a satisfying answer to the big question. It no longer is for me because that theory can only address what happened since matter was born into the universe, not what happened before. (the “there was no before” argument is logically inconsistent) Todays physicist seem as dissatisfied with the current state of the theory and are seeking to expand it. However, the concept of colliding membranes is on the grand scale indistinguishable from the concept of God. I say this not because of a belief in any particular answer but a dis-belief in our ability to know the ultimate truth in the matter. In the end our theories and models are just that, theories and models. They are tools in understanding how the universe works, not the final answer. In ages past we created gods in the image of humanity, we should take care in this current age not to create gods in the image of mathematics.

I was a little hesitant to watch the video at first, since I believe in both Creation (vs. Evolution) and that the Big Bang was not a spontanious event, but actually controlled by a higher power. But that is a discussion for another time. The point is that I didn't think that the video would agree with my beliefs on the subject. However, I plucked up my courage and watched the video. And to my surprise I liked it. It portrayed the different species in such a way that someone who believes in evolution could see the connection between the species, and someone who believes in creation could see it as a representation of the different species that inhabit (or inhabited) this planet. To the makers of this video a huge "Good Job" and "Thank You" is in order.

If we assume that the mountain at the end was photographed from a helicopter, then I believe that eliminates Everest and many other of the highest peaks in the world. My understanding is that helicopters cannot fly in altitudes that high. Of course, it could simply be a well done CG animation. I'm interested to know the right answer.